Urlacher told ESPN's Rachel Nichols that his mother, who died at 51, had health problems, but that he still didn't know the cause of her death.

Urlacher found out about his mother's death during the week before the Bears' September game at New Orleans. He said she had a lot of back issues and she smoked heavily, so he wasn't totally surprised to hear of her ailing health.

But, Urlacher said he was touched by the support he has received from players around the league.

"I think that just speaks to the kind of person she was, how boisterous and outgoing she was," Urlacher said said to Nichols on ESPN. "The support that we received it was unreal. Guys I'd met before but never talked to and I don't have their phone numbers were texting me, calling me. I got some actual handwritten letters from some player. Some of the guys were in our division, so that was really cool."